The Granville Academy / The Anti-Slavery Movement

Side A: The Granville Congregational Church erected this building in 1833 for its Female Academy and a church meeting room. The school prospered and, in 1837, moved to make way for the Granville Male Academy. The Welsh Congregational Church purchased the structure in 1863 and converted its two stories into a single room with full-height windows. Welsh language services were held here for sixty years. Granville Grange #2230 met in the building from 1923 to 1973. It then became Granville Historical Society’s property and, in 1981, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Side B: Opponents to slavery met at the academy during the 1830s and 1840s. In 1834, Theodore Weld, a zealous abolitionist, proclaimed his then radical views here. A mob gathered outside and pelted Weld through the windows with eggs. In 1841, a dramatic trial within these walls contested whether a runaway slave could be extradited from Ohio and returned to the south. Judge Samuel Bancroft ruled that Ohio’s extradition law was unconstitutional. The partisan crowd ushered the man to a waiting horse and he hurried north.